Ultracomida chef Robert Schopp returned to Pembrokeshire College recently to enthuse to hospitality and catering students about his passion for Mediterranean - and particularly Spanish - food. Robert changed career in 2002 from a manager working in insurance in Bristol when he enrolled on a college catering course in Tenby that prepared candidates with the essentials of working in a professional kitchen. Robert then went on to study on the Professional Cookery level 2 course part-time whilst working as a taxi driver. At college he was introduced to Ultracomida's owners - Paul and Shimona Grimwood - through Shimona's mum who was also on the same course. Robert has been working at Ultracomida for over two years which he absolutely loves due to "working in a great atmosphere and using fantastic ingredients." Students were shown how to make a range of tapas dishes from scratch, including tortilla, chorizo cooked in a cider sauce, allioli and a crushed garlic, tomato and olive oil sauce on toasted bread topped with manchego cheese or dry-cured serrano ham. "It's been really good, the audience were very positive about cooking tapas," said Robert. "I can't believe how many of them enjoyed the olives, as I find that a lot of young people don't like them." Pembrokeshire College catering advisor, Frank Shortt, commented: "It's really good to have past students come back to college and teach some of the things they have learned working in the hospitality and catering industry. "With the increase in tourism in Pembrokeshire and eating out generally, there is still a shortage of trained chefs. "The college is working in a number of ways to help fill this gap. We are working with a number of restaurants and hotels to make sure that what we are teaching is relevant as well as gaining excellent bursaries for our top-achieving students with five- star establishments in the UK." For further information about careers in hospitality and catering go to http://www.pembs.ac.uk/tourism">www.pembs.ac.uk/tourism or call admissions on 0800 716 236.